Robert Findlay and the Macaulay Family Architecture

The author discusses the key factors sustaining the success and longevity of a specific example of architectural patronage in Montreal at the turn of the century. Under the patronage of two generations of the Macaulay family, Robertson (1833-1915) and his son, Thomas Bassett (1860-1942), second and third Presidents of Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, the Scottish-born architect Robert Findlay (1859-1951) designed a series of prestigious buildings for the family, several of which survive to the present. Of the commissions were the Sun Life head office building (1891), the now demolished Calvary Congregational Church (1911), and several domestic commissions in Westmount designed between 1891 and 1914. Robert Findlay's interpretation of the mid-century Domestic Revival style promoted by the English architect, R. Norman Shaw and his followers exactly suited the Macaulay's preference for moderation in their commercial and domestic architectural undertakings. Findlay became the family's architect of choice after winning the design competition for the head office for Sun Life in 1889. It was an association that spanned three decades. His modern steel-framed building conceived in the Tudor Gothic style was the neophyte architect's first major architectural project and established his reputation in the city. A maturing style, characterised by the practical and personalised synthesis of revivalist form, attention to detail and standards of excellence made Robert Findlay's practice one of the most respected in Montreal.

Master's Thesis

Concordia University

Montreal

1993

xii-162p.

en